Killing off Maggie Smith is not in the 'Downton Abbey' script

Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess Grantham, is shown in a scene from the second season on "Downton Abbey." She told “60 Minutes” that she hasn't watched the drama because doing so would only make her agonize over her performance. She said she may watch it someday. (AP Photo/PBS, Carnival Film & Television Limited 2011 for MASTERPIECE, Nick Briggs)

Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess Grantham, is shown in a scene from the second season on "Downton Abbey." She told “60 Minutes” that she hasn't watched the drama because doing so would only make her agonize over her performance. She said she may watch it someday. (AP Photo/PBS, Carnival Film & Television Limited 2011 for MASTERPIECE, Nick Briggs)

Rest assured, "Downton Abbey" fans, the matriarch dowager played by Maggie Smith will not be killed off the highly rated PBS Masterpiece TV series.

That assurance came Thursday from Rebecca Eaton, Masterpiece executive producer.

Unlike the untimely death in the Season 3 finale of the popular Matthew, cut from the cast when Dan Stevens’ acting career called him elsewhere, if Smith must take a hiatus, her character will go on an extended seaside vacation.

“Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes will never “run over her with a car” or close the door on her return, Eaton told a San Diego Rotary gathering. Speculation was fueled by Smith herself on a recent Today show interview when she said of Lady Grantham, “She’s gotta drop down dead at some point.”

Filming is beginning on Season 4 in England. Although it will be broadcast there this fall, Eaton said, it won’t air here until January, both so the actors will be free to promote it and due to PBS scheduling demands.

Based at WGBH in Boston, Eaton will attend KPBS’ gala fundraiser tonight themed on Downton Abbey of course.

Local actors will perform Abbey-style scenes and four San Diegans will be inducted into the KPBS Hall of Fame: Audrey Geisel, philanthropists Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner and the late Brad Warner, the first KPBS program manager. Supporter and fan Darlene Shiley, who broadcasts “Downton Abbey” promotions, is honorary gala chairwoman.

Eaton modestly confessed that when she read the entire first script, “I turned it down.”

She changed her mind, however, after actress Elizabeth McGovern attended a read-through, raved about it and said Dame Maggie Smith was joining the cast.